Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 4313577, member: 44316"]There are some ancient coins that are more impressive in hand than in photos. Large coins cannot have their sizes adequately conveyed by photos. The size on your screen of a tiny 9 mm coin can be the same as of a massive 36 mm coin--you need to know what "36 mm" really means before you can appreciate the image of a big coin. [ATTACH=full]1096772[/ATTACH] 36-34 mm. 17.42 grams.  Large.Tiberius II, 578-582.  Year 5 = 578/9.  How can that be? We reckon his reign as beginning in 578 when Justin II died and Tiberius II took over. But Justin II had been mentally ill (older books say "insane") for years and Sophia (his wife) and Tiberius II, the regent for Justin's last four years, actually headed the government. So, when Tiberius II become emperor, he reckoned as if he already had had almost four years of rule. There are a very few coins of Tiberius from year 4. Year 5 was the first common year, and it saw a temporary improvement in coin quality that is not much written about. If you had this giant 36 mm coin in hand alongside a typical 30 mm or 28 mm Justin II and Sophia follis, you would see (and feel) that there had been a substantial change. The improvement did not last long. The above coin is year 5. My "year 7" piece is only 31 mm. If you want a massive AE of Tiberius II, look for year 5.[/QUOTE]